There are many reasons why I wanted to do a magical juice cleanse. For starters, I wanted to see if it even worked. A lot of health fads tend to come off as gimmicky, and the Internet is flooded with debates of whether or not a juice cleanse is actually good for you. I figured the only person equipped enough to decide if a juice cleanse was good for my body was, well, me (aren’t I lucky?). Second, wrapping up finals honestly just made me feel really greasy. My diet was literally trash in every sense of the word, and I found myself in desperate need of a fresh start. And finally, why not? How hard can three days of juice drinking be?
Well, very very hard.
I don’t know if it was harder or easier than I expected because I came into the experience with zero prior knowledge. None of my friends have ever partaken in a juice cleanse so I was doing this for everyone. I did have the self-respect to film my high and low points for my friends’ viewing pleasure, and now you get a taste of the action. Three days, me versus 18 juices and 6 booster shots.
Day 0: The Day I Pick Up the Juice
I walked three blocks with a bag full of juices. No one knew what was in the bag, besides me, but I felt like a complete basic white girl nonetheless. I was very very excited though! The juice people hyped me up a little too much, as so did the fact that I successfully parallel parked for the first time ever to get to the store.
Day 1: “I Just Want to Chew My Food Again”
If you would’ve heard me, you would’ve thought I hadn’t eaten a real meal in years. I was crowned the queen of complaining; every person I know can attest to that. I mean, I don’t think the juice cleanse would have the same effect if I didn’t splatter it all over my social media.
They warned me that this would be the hardest day, and by 6 PM, I was about to cave and eat something. I hated one of the juices (s/o to you, ginger green) and couldn’t get myself to drink it. I literally had to use a straw to get as much in me as possible with the least amount of damage. And when I decided to spice things up with a booster shot, I LITERALLY spiced things up, and it made everything about ten thousand times worse. But I made it, and that’s what matters.
#Advice: I would NOT recommend working out hard any of these days. Your body is focused on detoxification and rebuilding, and working out just consumes a lot of that energy. I wish I knew that midst juice cleanse because I worked out twice on day 1 (one-hour run and one-hour HIIT-like bootcamp), and my head was THROBBING by the end of it.
Day 2: “Is This What Natural Energy Feels Like?”
I surprisingly felt AMAZING on day 2. I was thriving – I was filled with energy, satisfied by all of the juices, and felt generally happy. I definitely was still obnoxiously making jokes about it over snapchat (because I think I’m funnier than I actually am), but hopefully someone other than me laughed.
I reflected on my day 1 experience and really think I was going through caffeine (coffee and Diet Coke) withdrawals because this day, there was not a headache in sight. It was all ~good vibes~ and ~positivity~, all enforced by the Soulcycle class I did. Good decision? Probably not, as it did leave me starving, but the juices held me over enough, especially my sixth juice of the day – ChocoLIT.
Day 3: “Nothing Comes Easy.”
I’m not going to say I could do this for longer than three days, but I definitely will say I’m very much interested in doing this again (just maybe not when I’m home because my Cuban abuela is on the verge of a breakdown because I’m not eating).
The third day I definitely spent the most hungry, I think my body was just in survivor mode, having quick bursts of energy and then constantly needing to be refueled. I was dragged to a work event at night, which definitely didn’t help my food-obsessed mind, but I powered through until the very end.
Now that I know I can do it makes me all the more proud of myself. Everything takes hard work, and sticking to six juices a day was a difficult feat, but the way you want to look and, more importantly, the way you want to feel are both things worth fighting for.